His comments to The Sunday Telegraph followed the release by the family of a statement in which they described the 26-year-old athlete as "numb with shock as well as grief" over the events of the past three days.

They said that evidence gathered by the police themselves "strongly refutes" any possibility of the premeditated murder charge with which prosecutors have said they will charge the athlete.

They also insisted that Mr Pistorius, whose position as South Africa's golden boy was cemented when he won two gold medals and a silver at last year's London Paralympics, had no reason to harm Miss Steenkamp, 29, his girlfriend of four months.

"All of us saw at first hand how close she had become to Oscar during that time and how happy they were. They had plans together and Oscar was happier in his private life than he had been for a long time," they said.

Reeva Steenkamp in the reality show Tropika Island of Treasure

The family fightback came as reports emerged that Mr Pistorius fought to save Miss Steenkamp's life after allegedly shooting her four times through the bathroom door in the early hours of St Valentine's Day morning.

Security guards and neighbours who rushed to his exclusive home on a security compound outside Pretoria saw Mr Pistorius running down the stairs with the blonde model in his arms, according to a source quoted by the Afrikaans newspaper Beeld.

Miss Steenkamp was still breathing, it said, and Mr Pistorius tried desperately to save her using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

"Blood splatters along the route that Pistorius carried her was further proof that her heart was still beating," the paper added.

And a close friend of Mr Pistorius told on Saturday how the athlete called him moments after Miss Steenkamp was shot.

Justin Divaris told the Sunday People: "Oscar called me at 3.55am saying that Reeva had been shot. I said to him, 'What are you talking about? I don't understand you.' He then repeated himself - 'There has been a terrible accident, I shot Reeva.

"Next thing his neighbour picked up the phone and told me it was true and told me to get to Oscar's home. I was in total shock. I asked the neighbour, 'Is she OK?' Did the gun go off by accident?' She replied, 'No. She's not OK. You need to get here'."

Beeld also reported that Mr Pistorius, who kept a machine gun under his window for security as well as the 9mm pistol by his bed - with which he is believed to have shot Miss Steenkamp - had seven firearm licence applications pending, including one for a .223 semi-automatic rifle - the same calibre of combat weapon used in the Sandy Hook school massacre in the United States, in which 20 children and six teachers died.

Henke Pistorius reaches out to his son Oscar (AFP/Getty)

In the Tropika Island of Treasure programme, filmed in Jamaica and screened on South African television last night with the blessing of her family, Miss Steenkamp was seen alongside other bikini-clad contestants taking part in a hunt for treasure. The winner of the contest was to receive £73,000 in prize money.

In a series of scenes she was filmed studying a treasure map on the deck of a yacht, jumping into the sea from a cliff, and swimming with dolphins.

In a poignant interview, filmed just days before she died as she prepared to return home she spoke about the importance of leaving a positive mark in life.

Dressed in a strappy top and a yellow and black bikini, with her blonde hair scraped back, she said: "Not just your journey in life but the way that you go out and make your exit is so important. You have either made an impact in a positive way or a negative way."

Mr Pistorius had delivered a prescient message of his own just days earlier, retweeting to followers the comment: "Learn to appreciate what you have, before time makes you appreciate what you had" with the additional words: "True that."

On Friday, during his first court appearance since the incident on Thursday morning, he repeatedly burst into tears as prosecutors discussed how they would charge him with murdering his girlfriend.

Mr Pistorius faces a murder charge in Pretoria (Reuters)

Standing behind him, his father and brother were seen reaching out to clasp his shoulder and pat his back. Henke Pistorius told The Sunday Telegraph on Saturday that they were a close family and had no doubt of his innocence.

"I let him know that all of us are in heart and soul with him," he said. "That's why we were there and whatever needs to be done we will do."

He said he felt no need to question his son too closely about the exact events of that night. "He is going to have enough of that, enough advocates asking him things over and over," he said. "I can just imagine how absolutely emotional it must have been for him."

But there was "zero doubt" in his mind that he had acted in fear of an intruder, he added. "Without any doubt there was no purpose in it, it's not an issue for us," he said. "I have zero doubt (that he thought it was an intruder) - it's totally absurd to even suggest anything different.

"When you wake up in the middle of the night - and crime is so endemic in South Africa - what do you do if somebody is in the house? Do you think it's one of your family? Of course you don't," he said. The family were keen hunters, he said, and his son had grown up with guns.

Reading a statement before television cameras yesterday, Mr Pistorius' uncle Arnold and sister Aimee said the entire family was "in a state of total shock".

"Firstly about the tragic death of Reeva who we had all got to know well and care for deeply over the last few months," they said. "We are all grieving for Reeva, her family and her friends. Oscar - as you can imagine - is also numb with shock as well as grief."

They said that they were also struggling to come to terms with the murder charge Mr Pistorius now faces. "The lives of our entire family have been turned upside down forever by the unimaginable human tragedy," they said.

"After consulting with legal representatives, we deeply regret the allegation of premeditated murder. We have no doubt there is no substance to the allegation and that the State's case, including its own forensic evidence, strongly refutes any possibility of premeditated murder or indeed any murder at all."

Last week was not the first time however that Mr Pistorius has brushed with police. In 2009 he received a warning over an alleged assault on a 19-year-old girl at his home. Last year, he was accused of sending a text message to a man he believed was involved with his former girlfriend threatening to break his legs.

Mark Batchelor, a friend of the man who got involved in the row, alleged Mr Pistorius also telephoned and threatened him.

"He called me 'boy' and said he wanted to clear the air, saying he had heard I had a problem with him. I told him that he can't go around threatening people. He said he wasn't afraid of me and the phone cut," he told Johannesburg's Star newspaper. "The man I heard on the phone is a different man from the image given out there. He carries a gun everywhere and I have seen him be controlling to women."

Reeva Steenkamp's uncle Michael, who like most of her family lives in Port Elizabeth on the south coast, said they were ignoring such reports and focusing on the case ahead. Mr Pistorius, who is being held this weekend in a polic station cell, will return to Pretoria Central Magistrates Court on Tuesday for a bail application.

"We do not want to speculate what happened. We would rather pay attention to the criminal process will take its course now," Mr Steenkamp told Beeld. "We are a religious family. And if you believe in God, then you know justice will be in his hand."